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I’m going to take 1/2 day off tomorrow, so getting ready for a sub consumed me!

I’ve been fighting some sort of sinus thing, so my head has been a bit woozy all week. My students have been a bit giddy too…with it being a four-day week.

Needless to say, I’ve been a bit tired.

After school, I had the first of twelve training sessions on behavior management. If you’re a teacher, then you’ve heard of Fred Jones. Although I’ve gone through much of his training in other “teaching” classes, my district requires that all new hires, one to three years with the system, go through this training.

Consider how happy I am to be spending an additional two hours…after school…on training I’ve already had.

:::Insert sarcasm:::

There are two positives about the training, though: 1) 18 continuing education credits, and 2) $195 when I’m finished.

Oh yeah.

I see bling in my future.

😉

Training wasn’t too bad today. I’m in there with three other teachers I know, and the facilitators are FABULOUS!

One would think that I’d go home and plop on the couch.

One would be wrong.

I ran home for ten minutes, fed the dogs, and ran back out to attend a JV football game.

Many of my boys play, and I have a gal on the cheerleading squad.

During the game, one of my students from last year sat beside me, and we had a very pleasant conversation.

I adore this young lady. I see her often in the hallway outside of my room as she makes her way between classes. We always exchange hellos, and I’d told her recently, as she was preparing for FCAT retakes, that I had been praying for her. I’d also told her that I KNEW she could pass. My confidence, it seemed, outweighed hers.

She had been extremely touched when I’d told her that.

Tonight, I told her that I can’t believe that she’s going to be a senior next year, and that I’m going to cry when she walks the stage.

Once again, she seemed genuinely touched.

She gave me wonderful feedback about the instruction I’d provided last year, and it was my turn to be touched.

:::Insert a big heart here:::

Throughout the game, my little cheerleader student came to see me. She’s a sweetheart and one of my favorites this year. She’s incredibly bright but knows her limits and isn’t afraid to advocate for herself. For a ninth grader, this is a huge sign of maturity.

One of my football players made a number of great defensive tackles, and every time his name was announced, I hollered, “That’s my boy!!!”

I was a little obnoxious.

I didn’t care.

I love these kids.

The best moment of the evening came when I was leaving the field after the game.

I saw one of my other football players, and I stopped to tell him that he’d played a good game.

You should have seen him beaming with pride.

Then he introduced me to his mother.

Oh.

My.

Word.

What a lovely lady!!!

It was easy to see where he got his charismatic personality from!!!

She told me that her son wants to be a teacher when he gets older because when he was younger, he had a male teacher who made a real impression on him.

He made up his mind, at that point, to get his act together and work hard.

That is what he does.

He’s quite the class clown, but he is diligent about his work.

Even when he gets frustrated, he still keeps on trying.

Meeting his mother was simply the best way to end a long, but very rewarding day.

I say it often on this here blog of mine, but I’ll say it again.

I love what I do.

I love the students I teach.

I am incredibly grateful that God gave me the gifts that He did, and that He steered me into education.

I’m especially glad that I teach intensive reading…a very, very difficult area where the kids struggle twenty times more than other students.

I know that God is using me…to help my students academically and personally.

Moments like these…strung together…shine like beacons on what can sometimes be a dark, lonely road.